Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

I'm going to warn you right now that this review will contain SPOILERS.  I just can't write a review without referring to things that have happened throughout the series, and I'll also include spoilers from Last Sacrifice itself.

You've been warned.  Read no further, unless you don't mind spoilers.

In Spirit Bound, Rose and Lissa brought Dimitri back to life, after he was turned into a Strigoi in Shadow Kiss.  Being a dhampir again wasn't easy for Dimitri, though, and he found himself dealing with a lot of depression and guilt for the lives he'd taken as a Strigoi.  He also told Rose that he didn't love her anymore, that he couldn't love anyone again.  Rose, heartbroken, decided to give things with Adrian a chance.  At the end of Spirit Bound, Rose was arrested for murdering Queen Tatiana.

Last Sacrifice picks up where Spirit Bound left off, with Rose in prison.  Her father and friends plan and execute a daring break-out.  Shocking as it is - Rose had no clue a jailbreak was in the planning, as Lissa had blocked Rose from her mind - Rose is most shocked to see that Adrian and Dimitri have worked together to break her out.  Oh, I loved it, but I was so torn!  Those two men are both awesome in their own ways, and while I knew Rose and Dimitri were meant to be, a small part of me wished that Adrian would win the girl.  Still, I'm Team Dimitri and have been from the beginning.

Most of the book follows Rose as she, Dimitri and Sydney the Alchemist hide from the Moroi authorities, in the hopes that Rose's trial can be stalled, giving them enough time to discover who really murdered the queen.  They also hope to find Lissa's half-sibling because another Dragomir guarantees that Lissa will be in the running to become the new Moroi monarch.

After the amazingness of Spirit Bound, I had such high expectations that Last Sacrifice would be just as good, if not better.  I was a bit disappointed.  First of all, the book was far too long.  Almost 600 pages, with most of that spent with Rose in random small towns, hiding out.  The first chapters were amazing, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.  Then the action slowed and strange new characters - the Keepers - were introduced.  I didn't like those chapters at all.  Snore.  The rest of the book seemed kind of slow after that.

I had no inkling at all that the killer would be Tasha!  Poor Christian.  I guess it makes sense, since Tasha wanted Dimitri to be her guardian - and more.  While I'm sad for Christian, I'm happy that Adrian's mom wasn't the killer because I think that would have destroyed Adrian, especially after what he'd gone through with Rose.  His ending was completely heartbreaking, and after he yelled at Rose and then wasn't heard from again, I thought "Is that really it?"  I wanted more closure with the Adrian story, but I have a hunch that things were left that way because Adrian is going to be the main character in Mead's VA spinoff series.  His story is definitely NOT over.  Richelle Mead says in her Acknowledgements page that she "[hopes] you'll continue to enjoy the many Moroi and dhampir adventures to come."  Here's hoping I'll get Adrian's story, and that Rose and Dimitri will make appearances. 

As sad as I was for Adrian, I was ecstatic that Dimitri (aka "a certain smoldering dhampir", according to my sister Kira) finally declared his love for Rose and that they got their happily ever after!  They belong together, no question.  And I'm glad that the bond between Lissa and Rose was broken when Rose almost died protecting Lissa from Tasha's bullets.  I'm hoping that Rose will have a more 'normal' life now that she doesn't have to feel everything Lissa's feeling, and she no longer has to take the darkness and insanity from Lissa.

As to who Lissa's half-sibling is, I had no clue it would be Jill.  Maybe I should have seen it coming, but I didn't.  I hope that Lissa is nice to Jill, and that the two of them end up having a great relationship.  It's not Jill's fault that she's the illegitimate child of Eric Dragomir, after all.

I'm glad that Christian and Lissa ended up together, and that Lissa was elected queen.

Overall, I found Last Sacrifice a satisfying conclusion to the Vampire Academy series, but it wasn't as good as Spirit Bound.  And there wasn't enough Rose and Dimitri love.  Can't win 'em all, though.

I'm torn between 4 and 4.5 stars, but I'll go with 4 because the more I think about this book (I finished it last night), the more I wish it would have been better.

4/5